Musk About to Gain Billions More After SpaceX Announcement

After years of insisting the company would remain private until it was sending regular flights to Mars, Musk recently hinted that SpaceX may be going public. The move, expected as early as 2026, could value the company at an astronomical $1.5 trillion. While the listing would provide the massive funds needed for Musk's most ambitious projects, it also guarantees an unprecedented personal windfall for the world’s richest person.

Former SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles, California

SpaceX Going Public

For years, Elon Musk has openly criticized the drawbacks of running a public company, often pointing to the scrutiny and regulation that comes with it. His own experience with Tesla and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been fraught with legal drama. This history made his recent confirmation of the IPO plans all the more telling. When news reports of a 2026 listing at a $1.5 trillion valuation surfaced, an editor for Ars Technica posted on X explaining why SpaceX might be going public. Musk replied directly, stating: “As usual, Eric is accurate.”

This brief comment validated the reports that SpaceX and its advisers are aiming for a massive listing window in mid-to-late 2026. This timeline stands in stark contrast to earlier statements. Musk had previously said that going public too soon would be "very painful" and, at one point, suggested the Starlink satellite business, a subsidiary of SpaceX, would only go public when its revenue was "reasonably predictable." Now, it seems the company's success has reached a point where he's ready to face the public market's "pain."

The main financial engine pushing SpaceX toward this historic IPO is its fast-growing satellite internet service, Starlink. Starlink has grown rapidly, boasting millions of active subscribers across the globe. Reports indicate that Starlink is now the primary source of revenue for SpaceX, expected to generate the majority of the projected $22 billion to $24 billion in revenue for the company in 2026.

Musk’s Value Will Skyrocket

For the ordinary investor, a SpaceX IPO means a chance to own a piece of the future of space travel. For Elon Musk, who already controls a significant portion of the company, it represents one of the largest personal wealth increases in financial history. This especially comes after Tesla has approved a pay package for Musk that could make him the world’s first trillionaire. However, it seems that Musk is continuing to try and amass as much wealth as possible for his own projects and benefits. Recently,  Musk stated that giving money away is “very hard.”

Beyond Tesla’s pay package, experts estimate that if SpaceX achieves its target $1.5 trillion valuation upon listing, Musk's personal stake could instantly soar to roughly $625 billion. That single number alone would exceed the economic output (GDP) of several developed nations combined. While the company says the IPO is necessary to raise a "war chest" to derisk its long-term, expensive Mars mission, the immediate result is that the world’s richest man gets demonstrably richer—by hundreds of billions of dollars—simply by selling a small portion of a company he already runs.